Asia – Page 24

India: Madras High Court Strikes Down Online Gambling Ban

August 7, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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A ban over online games of skill such as rummy and poker in the state of Tamil Nadu has been struck down by the Madras High Court, which ruled it was excessive and disproportionate to the object it sought to achieve. The court has asked the state government to present a new legislation to regulate online games.

A petition to strike down the ban was lodged by online operators, who argued: “Since 1968 the Supreme Court has made it clear that rummy is a game of skill and not a game of chance. Therefore, online rummy cannot be banned.”

The government of Tamil Nadu has criticised the High Court decision, saying that people aged 25 to 30 years are losing their earnings by playing online betting games such as rummy.

Last November, Banwarilal Purohit, the governor of Tamil Nadu, made online gaming a punishable offence with promoters facing up to two years in jail.

In February, an amendment to the bill was introduced by deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam confirming punishments of up to two years in prison or a fine that would not exceed Rs10,000 (US$ 137.15).

ESPL 2021: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Launches Team Delhi Dukes

August 7, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has unveiled the second team of Esports Premier League (ESPL) 2021. The Delhi-based franchise has been named as Delhi Dukes. Earlier ESPL had announced the first franchise side Hyderabad Hydras.

Sisodia also launched the official jersey of the team, which will be representing the national capital in the country’s first-ever franchise-based Esports league.

“I congratulate India Today Group for their efforts to grow Esports in the country. I hope the Delhi team win the tournament,” Deputy CM Sisodia tweeted after the launch.

Apart from Delhi and Hyderabad, an eight-team league will see other teams representing Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and states Punjab and Rajasthan competing in the final stage of the event.

“It’s an honour for us to reveal the team’s name and official jersey by the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Mr Manish Sisodia. Delhi’s fans have now got a chance to stand by the team through their journey and cheer for them, so it is imperative for us to make them feel special. It’s also a very proud moment for all of us at ESPL to see the logo of the first franchise-based Esports league on the arm. We cannot wait for the final phase of the league where all eight state teams will battle it out to get the crown. I wish the team all the very best,” said Vishwalok Nath, Director of ESPL, who was also present during the launch in a closed event at the Delhi Chief Minister’s Residence.

How iQOO’s Hunt For India’s Next Big Gaming Streamer became the biggest platform to spotlight upcoming streamers across 2.5k+ participating YouTube channels and 2M+ live audiences

August 4, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Gamers and streamers are burgeoning in the country and the numbers are increasing exponentially. This new behavioural change is a trend watched closely by platforms and brands since the audience for these streamers are the most coveted – youth. Engagement rates are unique to just this medium.

There are stories of gamers and streamers from modest backgrounds who have made it big by being good at two things – esports and entertainment. So what is a “raid?” A raid is when a YouTuber/ Streamer with a significant following, asks his/ her viewers to go and watch another creator’s live stream. Case in point – GamerFleet. A young man from Haldwani, Uttarakhand who was streaming to double digit audiences when he was ‘raided’ by Samay Raina. After the raid, he continued to grow organically not just because of his personality and collaboration with Samay Raina and Tanmay Bhat. Cut to a few months later and GamerFleet has over a million subscribers. This is the beauty of a ‘raid’.

So Raid Nights was born. This is the brainchild of Tanmay Bhat in partnership with iQOO – a phone company that puts the gamer before the game. The idea was executed by OML Entertainment with technical partners – Sky eSports. This property was only possible by the power of the platform that is YouTube. Tanmay Bhat, Samay Raina and GamerFleet have been online every Friday evening for the last one month with their new live-streaming property, iQOO Raid Nights. The three content creators (Also known as raid bosses) presented a once in a lifetime opportunity to aspiring gaming streamers where they would raid the YouTube channels of upcoming streamers asking their subscribers to tune in and watch the live-stream of the channel they would raid, resulting in the aspiring creators seeing increase in live-streaming numbers like never before.

Here’s how iQOO Raid Nights happened.

Every Friday from 25th June to 23rd July there were 4 rounds of qualifiers and a grand finale. Participants would stream live on their YouTube channel using the hashtag #iQOORaidNights and the raid bosses would randomly pick and choose which channel they wanted to raid. 2.4k YouTube channels garnered over 8.9k user-generated videos in this time, hoping they would get “raided.” The winners were chosen via a YouTube poll where the audience voted for their favourite performers. Two winners from each qualifier episode won a cash prize of Rs. 20,000 and an iQOO 7 Legend phone. There were super interesting performances and channels that the viewers came across. Some channels that captured people’s imagination were Gamer Mummy – A mother of two young adults who streams Minecraft everyday, kukZy Gaming – a gamer who also raps and beatboxes while playing the piano at the same time, Matata QHouse – who did hybrid dance performances with a mix of pre-recorded footage, visual effects and live webcam.

The winner of the first edition of iQOO Raid Nights was Mechanical Pandey – an entertainer who did a rap and dance performance. He also performed a short sketch of him doing random things and being beaten up by his mother which got huge laughs from the audience. The winner got a gaming setup worth Rs. 2,50,000 as the grand prize. The runner-ups were Shiny Kash – A gamer + rapper and The He Man Show – A streamer who lives in his shop and streams every night. He had created special art pieces for iQOO Raid Nights featuring the faces of the raid bosses.

iQOO Raid Nights was hosted by Tanmay Bhat, Samay Raina and GamerFleet on their respective YouTube Channels and was coordinated and executed by OML Entertainment.

Quotes:

Tanmay Bhat – Raid Nights is something that I’ve always wanted to do at scale. It was great to see that brands like iQOO and YouTube supported this property. The creativity that some streamers bring to the table is something that the audience must discover. One of my favourite channels from this edition was Matata QHouse. Their creativity and performance in the qualifiers just blew my mind

Samay Raina – Live Streaming suddenly grew during Covid quarenatines and many creators tried to showcase their characters and personas on stream although they couldn’t reach out to more people. I’m glad iQOO Raid Nights helped these creators gain a massive amount of reach and an opportunity to showcase their talent. It was a great feeling watching people showcase their unique, unrecognised talent everytime we would raid them. Much love to iQOO for supporting us with this property

GamerFleet – One day I was just randomly streaming with about 500 views and suddenly it shot up to 5,000. That was when Tanmay Bhat raided me as a part of the initial stages of Raid Nights a few months ago. That particular raid helped me garner a lot more reach than usual and then a lot of people started following my content and started tuning in live while I stream. This is exactly what iQOO Raid Nights did with all the streamers who were a part of it. When you have a small channel and your watching increases, the YouTube algorithm sees that the channel is performing better and it recommends the channel more often. I really loved all the channels we raided, but Matata QHouse was my favourite one

Mechanical Pandey (Winner) – iQOO Raid Nights helped me quite a lot in terms of expanding my reach and discovering my creative abilities. I’m glad to have been a part of this wonderful event and I also believe Tanmay-bhai and Samay-bhai would want to stream with me in the future which I’m really looking forward to. My YouTube numbers increased tremendously and I’m glad a lot of people have now discovered me and my craziness. I’d really like to thank all the people who voted for me, and primarily Tanmay-bhai, Samay-bhai and Fleet-bhai for tuning in to my channel in the middle of all the 1500 channels that were streaming in the week I had participated, and giving me an opportunity to entertain and bring smiles on about 1 lakh people’s faces across 2 streams. I’m super excited to get my hands on the new gaming setup that I’ve won.

Gunjan Arya (CEO, OML Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.) – We are always on the lookout for upcoming talent that we can support, and have been bullish on online gaming for some time now. We’re super thrilled to have partnered with iQOO and YouTube in a way that is not only rewarding for the brand and the platform but for the online gaming space as a whole. The power of Creators + Brand + Platform really came together for a proper OP moment. Tanmay’s guidance and the super Samay and GamerFleet to boot have been invaluable collaborators. We came across a lot of new streamers including the incredible Gamer Mummy through the campaign and we will continue to do a lot more of this.

Meet India’s Leading Gaming Content Creators Who’re Raking in The Moolah

August 3, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Gone are the days when youngsters were told off by their folks for wasting hours e-gaming before a console, PC or mobile. Today, with increasing internet penetration, digitization across India and switchover to smartphones, the tables have turned and gaming has become a much vied-for, lucrative profession for both the urban and rural youth. And why not? Gaming is now becoming a strong avenue for the youth, millennials as well as the Gen Z to earn money, name and fame.

Trinity Gaming, India’s top gaming talent management company, has in a way, been partly responsible for creating this tectonic shift where Indian youth perceives esports and gaming not only as a profession but a gratifying job. With a motto of Game, Connect and Build, Trinity Gaming is enabling beginners to make a serious career out of their passion and past time from gaming. The company is committed to encouraging gamers who want to pursue a career in creating content. Trinity Gaming has taken the new generation of gaming creators to master and monetize their craft, proudly creating viral content for some of India’s largest brands and TV Channels alike. Currently, they are managing more than 250 top content creators in India who specialize as entertainers, influencers as well as content creators for the gaming ecosystem.

Here are India’s leading five gaming content creators & esports heroes that are setting the bar high and aspiring many more youngsters to take up esports professionally:

1. Aaditya Sawant a.k.a Dynamo Gaming

Aaditya Sawant, better known by his channel name Dynamo Gaming, the popular PUBG Mobile player now turned as BGMI creator has over 9.8 million subscribers on YouTube and 2 million followers on Instagram. He is an esports player and one of the most loved influencers in the gaming industry. The famous content creator was even spotted in the official Battlegrounds Mobile India teaser that went live on May 18. On the date of the early access release of Battlegrounds Mobile India, Dynamo Gaming was the first streamer who streamed the game on Youtube and showed the public. His channel usually reviews games, communicates with the audience and discusses tricks and hacks to clear levels in video games.

He has collaborated with brands like HP India, AMD India, ASUS and other brands for multiple campaigns.

2. Jonathan Jude Amaral a.k.a TSMentJonathan

Jonathan, 19-year-old esports athlete and influencer is based in Mumbai and has crossed many milestones in the gaming world. He is a popular PUBG Mobile player who won various titles including PMCO Fall Split SEA 2019, PUBG Mobile India 2020 and many more for TSM-Entity. Apart from that he is a popular game influencer who has 2.5 million YouTube subscribers on his channel, titled as Jonathan Gaming, which is speculated to hit five million subscribers by the end of 2021. The famous esports athlete and content creator was also spotted in the official Battlegrounds Mobile India teaser.

3. Luv Sharma, aka GodNixon Gaming

GodNixon is an Indian gamer & Youtuber with over 1.62 Million Subscribers. He used to Uploads PUBG Mobile Video of Gameplay, Tips & Tricks, Creates Opening, and lots more. He started his YouTube Career in the year of 2018 and where he used to upload PUBG Mobile Tips & Tricks Videos. He got a good response from the audience then later he started uploading Gameplay Videos of PUBG Mobile. GodNixon Gaming is a 20-Year-Old boy from India and his Real Name is Luv Sharma. He spends around 10 Lakhs in his PUBG Account for Gun Skins, Outfits, etc.

4. Chetan Chandgude a.k.a Kronten Gaming

Chetan plays his games under the name Kronten Gaming and he has received the Golden Play button from YouTube for his excellence. Speaking of his gaming, he is very precise with his shots that are what makes him stand out from the other gamers out there. He currently has 2.17 million subscribers on his channel and has a massive fan following of 469k on his official Instagram account. The famous gaming influencer and content creator was also spotted in the official Battlegrounds Mobile India teaser.

5. Rishab verma aka Antaryami gaming

Antaryami is streamer and roaster. He is from Kanpur, India. He is famous for his unique voice and funny light hearted comedy commentary in PUBG streaming. He has 339k+ followers on Instagram and approximately 3.5 million+ subscribers on his youtube channel. Antaryami is not a professional gamer but one of the most loved and viewed game streamer on YouTube.

These young guns have set the ball rolling to make gaming & esports in India the most coveted profession. They play big and earn big!

NFT Collectible “God Temple” Launches Public Sale, Introduces Play-to-Earn Game Model with Comic Artist Pat Lee’s Artwork

July 27, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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God Temple, an NFT collectible platform, has introduced the gamification model for its limited-edition art collection collaborated with comic artist Pat Lee, who did stints with DC and Marvel comics.

Users of the platform will be able to play against other users or computer-controlled players through God Temple’s global matching system. It will be a Play-to-Earn model utilizing both the platform’s native token (MYTH) and the game token (SOUL), which are necessary for players to start a game.

At God Temple, players can hold the Greek god NFT and play as the mythical characters such as Zeus, Athena, and Hades, illustrated by renowned comic artist Pat Lee. The winner in the duel will receive a game token (SOUL) as a prize, which will be tradable on secondary markets.

The public sale of God Temple’s native token (MYTH) will commence on 2nd August on Balancer Liquidity Bootstrapping Pool to make it accessible in a fair, linear, and decentralized manner. The sale supply will be 1,000,000 MYTH and the sale will last for 48 hours and will officially conclude on 4th August. The Balancer sale will have a MYTH-USDC pool during the token issuance period.

“We aspire to bring the story of mythology to life, and that’s why we introduced this new gamification model. We are developing strategic collaborations with artists around the world to create timeless mythical art god NFTs. Pat Lee is the leading celebrity artist and we hope more artists will be inspired to join the ecosystem,” said the spokesperson at God Temple.

Hong Kong’s record prize money increase includes Group races

July 17, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

Reading Time: 3 minutes

£136.2 million up for grabs in 2021/22 season, with £9.3 million in the four Group 1s on LONGINES Hong Kong International Raceday

Hong Kong racing will offer record prize money of HK$1.46 billion (£136.2 million) for the 2021/22 season with the four G1 features on LONGINES Hong Kong International Raceday offering a combined new high of HK$100 million (£9.3 million).

By elevating the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup’s prize money to HK$30 million (£2.8 million), the Hong Kong Jockey Club will stage the world’s richest Group 1 races over 1200m, 1400m, 1600m and 2000m on turf.

The LONGINES Hong Kong Mile and the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, which are already the most valuable Group 1 races over 1600m and 1200m on turf, will rise to HK$26 million (£2.4 million) and HK$24 million (£2.2 million) respectively.

The Group 1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) is also the most endowed seven-furlong contest in the world on turf at HK$12 million (£1.1 million).

Hong Kong will also stage the world’s second most-valuable 1200m Group 1 on turf in 2021/22, with the Chairman’s Sprint Prize, run on FWD Champions Day, worth HK$20 million (£1.9 million).

In addition, there will be generous increases across the whole prize money structure, with prize money for Group 2 races and Group 3 races boosted by HK$250,000 (£23,000) and HK$200,000 (£19,000) respectively. Races in Classes 1 to 5 will also see prize money increased by between 4% and 9%, demonstrating the Club’s commitment to fostering talent and incentivising strong owner investment at all levels.

The upward adjustments, announced today, Friday 16 July, re-establishes the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup as the most lucrative Group 1 2000m event on turf in the world and consolidates its position as a principal target for the world’s best middle-distance horses.

Hong Kong Racehorse Owners Association President Mr. Matthew Lam said: “The Hong Kong Jockey Club has been doing great in keeping ‘racing goes on’ amid the COVID-19 challenges since last year when so many other sporting events were impacted. It is great to see the further increase of prize money in nearly all races, which offer good incentives to Hong Kong Owners to continue to import high class horses and support the world class racing standard in Hong Kong.”

Mr. Andrew Harding, Executive Director, Racing, at the Hong Kong Jockey Club said: “Key to Hong Kong’s world-class racing is the Club’s significant investment in prize money. Despite the issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty in world economies, we are committed to continuing our strategy of strong increases in purse levels to reward and encourage our owners and to ensure Hong Kong’s elite races are attractive to overseas competitors. This approach has been a core element in Hong Kong being able to maintain its position as a world leader in providing quality horseracing and has enabled us to achieve between 17 and 26 horses in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for each of the past eight years.

“For next season, the Club has increased prize money to a record overall sum, including a significant injection across all Class 1 to Class 5 handicap races and Group 2 and Group 3 contests. We believe this will help to enhance competition and assist our owners in their attempts to purchase and import the best possible horses in a difficult economic climate.”

Mr. Harding noted the importance of Hong Kong’s elite races, especially the flagship LONGINES Hong Kong International Raceday.

“The LONGINES Hong Kong International Races will offer a record total of HK$100 million (£9.3 million) across the four Group 1 races held on the day, which underlines the Club’s commitment to attracting and rewarding the world’s best,” he said.

“That commitment is evident in the prize money increases for the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, Hong Kong Sprint and Hong Kong Mile.”

Online Gambling Allowed in Philippines to Boost Covid Response Funds

July 10, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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Despite previously being against online gambling in the country, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he was forced to allow the activity to boost the country’s Covid-19 response funds.

In a pre-recorded meeting with his political party officials, Duterte said allowing gambling operations was the most “sensible” thing to do, considering the government is running short of funds.

Duterte acknowledged that he was previously against the online gambling industry, noting that he even insisted on a no-casino policy in famous resorts in both Boracay and Bohol.

Duterte, however, said he is still against gambling “in the barangay-level” noting that it would be more difficult to control.

Malacañang recognises the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) as the government’s tax revenue generators amid the prevailing health crisis, but would not let them evade paying the right taxes. Around 60 POGOs have secured licensed to operate in the Philippines.

Cambodian Police Shuts Down 7 Illegal Online Gambling Dens

July 7, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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The Cambodian authorities have shut down 7 illegal online gambling dens in Phnom Penh on July 3.

The raid did not result in any arrests, however, instead, the operators of the illegal sites were simply issued a warning.

Police spokesman San Sok Seiha told that the crackdown came after the district authority instructed owners to stop illegal online gambling.

“Police did not detain any suspects, but instructed them not to engage in illegal online gambling activities, which is contrary to the instructions of the municipal administration,” he said.

On July 3, district governor Sok Penh Vuth assigned his deputy Mok Chankurana to lead a joint force to shut down the locations where payment accounts for illegal online gambling on mobile phones were created.

The district administration said: “The establishments operate by using a computer to close a door after entry. The door is locked and players can then top up their account. Once players have topped up their account, they can gamble on their phone.

“The authorities decided to lock the houses. If owners do not follow the administration’s instructions, we will implement strict administrative measures and district police will detain and refer the case to court.”

Ultimate Battle launches Battlegrounds Mobile India on its platform

July 6, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ultimate Battle (UB), India’s first-ever one-stop online esports platform, is geared up to host exciting tournaments for the recently-launched game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) on their platform. With an aim to boost the esports and gaming ecosystem in the country, Ultimate Battle has launched this exclusive Indian game on its platform. While the whole focus of esports is shifted to online with the absence of local area network (LAN) events due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the tournaments will help the esports athletes and their roster to start their grind and prepare for national and international events.

The country’s most popular esports platform UB, which has been a destination for playing many action-packed games with high-end graphics and has successfully integrated more than 10 esports title games to the platform, with BGMI, this exclusively designed game will fuel the growth of mobile gaming in India and the game will leverage the power of the mobile-first gaming ecosystem of the country. With the participation of both professionals and casual gamers, it also has the ranking system in place as part of the automated leader board based on the performances of the players and the winners will be awarded exciting prize money.

Exciting Features for BGMI players:

Tournaments: BR events will be hosted every hour so players can enjoy competitive gameplay at any time.

Leaderboards: Play daily and rake up your Ranking to get rewards.

Redeem Shop: Players will be able to get in-game items and more by collecting UB Coins by playing games on UB.

“At Ultimate Battle we are very excited to launch BGMI on our platform which is an exclusive Indian game as we strive to provide the esports community with the gaming events, content, and more through our online esports platform which caters to more than 3,00,000 registered gamers. The pre-registration phase has already marked a great success with 40 million Indian gamers which will continue to grow. We will host multiple online tournaments as it’s the favourite game among the Indian gamers which is making a much-awaited coming back. We’ll also be looking into adding BGMI to our flagship tournament All India Esports league (AIEL), which will be launched this month,” said Mr. Tarun Gupta, Founder, Ultimate Battle.

Currently, the platform has garnered a player base of more than 3,00,000 and has been growing every day. With over 54,000 monthly active users, gamers get an active community to interact with and compete against each other. The platform is now available on Google PlayStore for Android users and till now it has seen over 63,000 downloads already. The freshly launched app of the platform will facilitate easier connectivity and accessibility for its users and leverage the power of the mobile-first ecosystem of the country.

Macau GGR Up 813% Year-on-year in June

July 3, 2021 Published by EuropeanGaming.eu

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Macau has recorded a gross gaming revenue (GGR) of MOP$6.54bn ($817.3m) for June 2021, an 813% rise from the MOP$716m recorded in June 2020.

June’s figure is, however, a 37% month-on-month decline from May 2021, where GGR was MOP$10.45bn. The figures were released by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

While June 2020 was the lowest point since the pandemic began, May 2021 was the highest point, with the figures coinciding with a five-day holiday period in mainland China at the beginning of the month.

The sequential decline has been linked to an outbreak of Covid-19 in Guangdong Province at the end of May, with border restrictions becoming more strict between Macau and mainland China, while mandatory quarantine measures were introduced on passengers arriving from parts of Foshan, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Tag: Asia

India: Madras High Court Strikes Down Online Gambling Ban

ESPL 2021: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Launches Team Delhi Dukes

How iQOO’s Hunt For India’s Next Big Gaming Streamer became the biggest platform to spotlight upcoming streamers across 2.5k+ participating YouTube channels and 2M+ live audiences

Meet India’s Leading Gaming Content Creators Who’re Raking in The Moolah

NFT Collectible “God Temple” Launches Public Sale, Introduces Play-to-Earn Game Model with Comic Artist Pat Lee’s Artwork

Hong Kong’s record prize money increase includes Group races

Online Gambling Allowed in Philippines to Boost Covid Response Funds

Cambodian Police Shuts Down 7 Illegal Online Gambling Dens

Ultimate Battle launches Battlegrounds Mobile India on its platform

Macau GGR Up 813% Year-on-year in June

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